Satisfied with Ferris's explanation, Balthazar says, "Very well, Adept Ferris. Let us proceed to sending this message." He looks back at the Novices and adds, "Since this message is to the Order on Juno, it would make the most sense if it were addressed from the two of you."

((I believe Inelia just told us that we needed to send a message to the Order, but didn't specify the content of the message. Does that mean the Astropaths already have some knowledge of the message, or did I miss something?))

On 5/21/2018 at 12:34 PM, Lynata said:

On 5/17/2018 at 9:17 PM, Servant of Dante said:

8 hours ago, Covered in Weasels said:

Satisfied with Ferris's explanation, Balthazar says, "Very well, Adept Ferris. Let us proceed to sending this message." He looks back at the Novices and adds, "Since this message is to the Order on Juno, it would make the most sense if it were addressed from the two of you."

((I believe Inelia just told us that we needed to send a message to the Order, but didn't specify the content of the message. Does that mean the Astropaths already have some knowledge of the message, or did I miss something?))

((No, she expects that you know what you'd like to send. She did recommend that you keep the message short. The intent was that, she trusts you know what you'd like to ask (which previously was about House Novianna, the house Rosalind is from) the Order of the Watchful eye in relation to the geneology of Rosalind so you can followup on whoever she might have been visiting on Desoleum. ))

Ferris makes no comment as you figure out what message you desire to deliver.

On 5/25/2018 at 12:29 PM, ThenDoctor said:

Ferris makes no comment as you figure out what message you desire to deliver.

Briefly closing her eyes and resignating herself to the intricacies of interstellar communication in the Imperium, the novice indicates a nod before speaking again.

"Very well. Adept Ferris, please convey the following message to Juno, to be passed on to the convent of the Adepta Sororitas at the first possible moment: Ariel Damaris and Estelia Dolan on detached duty, requesting information on noble House Novianna, genealogy and contacts, in particular one woman Rosalind Novianna."

Her gaze shifting between the Astropath and the Cleric, she adds: "... will that do?"

Having no previous experience with and only the barest hint of knowledge about telepathy, she felt a bit nervous. Was her draft in line with what the psyker had expected of her?

Estelia winces again when the Astropath responds, her hand once again unconsciously moving toward her weapon, but listens to Ariel's message. It sounded well composed to her, although she was a bit preoccupied with their surroundings. To think there were people who sent and received astropathic communiques on a day to day basis. At the moment, Estelia could hardly imagine anything more unpleasant. At least there was a shrine in the room, she tried to stay focused on that . . .

Balthazar is satisfied with the Novice's phrasing, and he tells the Psyker to send the message.

On 5/27/2018 at 9:39 PM, Lynata said:

Briefly closing her eyes and resignating herself to the intricacies of interstellar communication in the Imperium, the novice indicates a nod before speaking again.

"Very well. Adept Ferris, please convey the following message to Juno, to be passed on to the convent of the Adepta Sororitas at the first possible moment: Ariel Damaris and Estelia Dolan on detached duty, requesting information on noble House Novianna, genealogy and contacts, in particular one woman Rosalind Novianna."

Her gaze shifting between the Astropath and the Cleric, she adds: "... will that do?"

Having no previous experience with and only the barest hint of knowledge about telepathy, she felt a bit nervous. Was her draft in line with what the psyker had expected of her?

On 5/28/2018 at 11:55 PM, Servant of Dante said:

Estelia winces again when the Astropath responds, her hand once again unconsciously moving toward her weapon, but listens to Ariel's message. It sounded well composed to her, although she was a bit preoccupied with their surroundings. To think there were people who sent and received astropathic communiques on a day to day basis. At the moment, Estelia could hardly imagine anything more unpleasant. At least there was a shrine in the room, she tried to stay focused on that . . .

14 hours ago, Covered in Weasels said:

Balthazar is satisfied with the Novice's phrasing, and he tells the Psyker to send the message.

Adept Ferris focuses a moment listening intently to Ariel and nods, "It is sufficient. Time, of course being relative in the Empyrean the time it will take for the message to travel is relative. The brevity of the message will help it remain intact along the eddies and shoals. Hopefully it will not take more than a few hours for the message to be sent, however it will take time to be deciphered, interpreted, the recipients made aware...you are aware of such things that would need to happen. Time will pass, but Juno is within the subsector, so hopefully it will be within the week you receive what you seek."

Ferris shuffles to his feet, you hear his body creaking in response to the movement joints popping to release pressure, "Is there anything else you require?" he asks seemingly about to be prepared to leave.

4 hours ago, ThenDoctor said:

"Is there anything else you require?"

Novice Ariel accepted the astropath's explanation with a stoic expression, nodding to his words. She knew very little about telepathy, but had heard scary stories about ships getting lost in time. Given the message was about to be sent through the very same Immaterium also frequented by the Imperial Navy and the Ecclesiarchy's own vessels, it made sense to her that these words would be subjected to much the same risks.

The girl indicated a bow; a psyker Ferris may be, but he was also an Adept of the Imperium and as such warranted a modicum of respect, at least in terms of public appearances.

In response to Ferris' question, Ariel's gaze silently shifted to her companions.

Estelia shakes her head sharply, really looking at the astropath for the first time. She had seen blind eyes before in some of the older Sisters on Ophelia, but those were usually due to old wounds, not the soul binding that sanctioned psykers went through. They said it made them closer to the Emperor, but how true could that really be, since they were tainted by the warp after all.

Balthazar shakes his head and says with forced politeness, "That will be all, Adept Ferris. The Emperor thanks you for your service." He gives the sign of the Aquila, reminding himself that these astropaths are necessary for the survival of the Imperium. Ferris is likely a loyal servant of the Emperor, just as Balthazar is. But that doesn't mean that Balthazar will ever enjoy cooperating with one, and his hand will be the first to reach for a pistol if the Warp tries to claim a formerly-loyal psyker for its own.

On 6/1/2018 at 1:39 PM, Lynata said:

The girl indicated a bow; a psyker Ferris may be, but he was also an Adept of the Imperium and as such warranted a modicum of respect, at least in terms of public appearances.

In response to Ferris' question, Ariel's gaze silently shifted to her companions.

On 6/2/2018 at 3:36 PM, Servant of Dante said:

Estelia shakes her head sharply, really looking at the astropath for the first time. She had seen blind eyes before in some of the older Sisters on Ophelia, but those were usually due to old wounds, not the soul binding that sanctioned psykers went through. They said it made them closer to the Emperor, but how true could that really be, since they were tainted by the warp after all.

9 hours ago, Covered in Weasels said:

Balthazar shakes his head and says with forced politeness, "That will be all, Adept Ferris. The Emperor thanks you for your service." He gives the sign of the Aquila, reminding himself that these astropaths are necessary for the survival of the Imperium. Ferris is likely a loyal servant of the Emperor, just as Balthazar is. But that doesn't mean that Balthazar will ever enjoy cooperating with one, and his hand will be the first to reach for a pistol if the Warp tries to claim a formerly-loyal psyker for its own.

Ferris returns the sign and slowly shuffles from the room off to whatever duties are necessary to perform the sending of the message just relayed. The last thing the group sees of the pair is the backside of Ferris' guard using their non pistol hand to pull the door closed behind them and a locking noise is heard. For a moment you are left alone in the room, but the other side opens up and Arbitrator Regia comes in to the room, *static* "The Astropath's attendant informed me that they were done with their rites here. It would be best to escort you out of the tower now. Come with me" *static*

((Not to lead you guys around, but there's really nothing else that will happen as long as you are within the tower and Estelia is still frightened.))

The path out of the tower is, seemingly at least, a little easier than before as the experiences are the same. While still wearing you have at least confronted the strangeness of the area before, though the thought likely crosses your minds of just what the Arbitrators have to deal with on a daily basis. Regia escorts you to the entrance wall of the Fortress Tower, and from there you are left to your devices.

"An interesting experience", the dusk-skinned Novice muttered under her breath, before turning her head to the others as they kept walking, presumably - or so Ariel assumed - towards a nearby transport hub.

Raising her left arm, she checked the antique clock on her left wrist, specifically the hours displayed on its two nixie tubes, just to make sure how much time had passed since they left the estate.

7 hours ago, Lynata said:

Raising her left arm, she checked the antique clock on her left wrist, specifically the hours displayed on its two nixie tubes, just to make sure how much time had passed since they left the estate.

Without having noticed it before Ariel can tell that her chrono malfunctioned and lost time in the fortress tower, as it shows only a minute had passed since seemingly getting there.

15 hours ago, ThenDoctor said:

Without having noticed it before Ariel can tell that her chrono malfunctioned and lost time in the fortress tower, as it shows only a minute had passed since seemingly getting there.

The Novice narrowed her brows at the unexpected sight. Shaking her wrist a bit, then tapping the chrono's heavy frame, she applies a rather unorthodox method of scrutiny to the device's machine spirit any Tech-Priest might scold her for, but even as the icy blue glow of the diodes encircling the center tubes flickers for a heartbeat, the amount of active dots remains the same. By her estimation, at least one light was missing.

"Strange", she ponders aloud, before looking up towards the others: "How much time did we spend in the precinct, you reckon?"

Estelia felt somewhat better now that they were moving away from the psykers rather than toward them. She still didn’t register Ariel’s question at first, “how should I know? Could hardly think straight with that . . . them around”

Balthazar has no words of wisdom or encouraging replies this time. Instead he just nods grimly, and prepares to leave the precint. He does not feel particularly mentorly at the moment, instead he just wants to leave.

On 6/7/2018 at 11:08 PM, Lynata said:

"Strange", she ponders aloud, before looking up towards the others: "How much time did we spend in the precinct, you reckon?"

On 6/8/2018 at 1:32 AM, Servant of Dante said:

Estelia felt somewhat better now that they were moving away from the psykers rather than toward them. She still didn’t register Ariel’s question at first, “how should I know? Could hardly think straight with that . . . them around”

On 6/12/2018 at 10:42 PM, Covered in Weasels said:

Balthazar has no words of wisdom or encouraging replies this time. Instead he just nods grimly, and prepares to leave the precint. He does not feel particularly mentorly at the moment, instead he just wants to leave.

Taking the path back to the mass conveyor is simple enough, Father Thorne's navigation is thankfully reversible so no new detours need to be figured out. Going pass the Arbite's range of influence you are reintroduced to the sounds of the lower hive habitat and all that entails, eventually you do come across a clock and it seems that about two hours has passed since getting off the conveyor.

You now find yourselves in need of acquiring transport to Port Gyre again. While you do have the map with the route to the clothier it is a route showing where to go from Gyre's entrance from Hive Primus entrance.

((Once again this is an influence test. I'll list out the options you can choose from:

-Abundant: You could take the Deep Tunnels, these are tunnels that go under Port Gyre and connect to Primus, however they are not well guarded and mugging is a common occurrence...or worse. Though it will require a guide, or difficult navigation tests if you attempt it yourselves.

-Average: You can take a short range cutter again like previously, or a basic auto-carriage down the bulk roadways that connect Primus to Gyre as you are close enough to the ground level for this to be relatively feasible.

-Rare: You could take the well maintained, in the case of personal travel, and fast vacuum tube transit system.))

“If we can find something more or less safe for transport, that may be better.” Estilia did not relish the idea of hiring a guide to take them though the, potentially dangerous, tunnels where they would be at the guide’s mercy.

Having spotted the local timepiece, Ariel begins to fiddle with the heavy chronometer on her left wrist. Retracting, then turning a few miniature dials, she first adjusts the projections on the ember tubes, then the number of blue lights circling them.

"There's nothing wrong with the means of transportation we have used thus far, is there?"

((Rolling for Abundant transport, Target number 25+30 = 55, rolled a 49 for 1 DoS. If it's ok with ThenDoctor perhaps somebody else could roll to aquire some better transport, but I wanted to be sure we had something .))

Balthazar searches for a guide to take them through the tunnels. It certainly isn't ideal, but the group is low on funds or contacts in the area and might not be able to secure any safer passage. Plus, this way he won't have to look at the servitors any more.

7 hours ago, Covered in Weasels said:

((Rolling for Abundant transport, Target number 25+30 = 55, rolled a 49 for 1 DoS. If it's ok with ThenDoctor perhaps somebody else could roll to aquire some better transport, but I wanted to be sure we had something .))

7 hours ago, Lynata said:

On 6/17/2018 at 1:35 AM, Servant of Dante said:

((Weasels, that's actually 2DoS (you passed the test 1DoS and your difference in 10's is 1 so =1DoS it's different in DH2 p24 if you'd like to read it), but regardless you could spend Fate Points to attempt a re-roll and add modifiers of course. I rolled for Lyn in case they wanted to roll, let's just say that they didn't do any better, so if Dante would like to attempt the test they most certainly may as well.

Alternatively, I'll allow Dante and Lyn to elect to spend one of their Fate Points each to add 1DoS to your (Weasel's) result giving you a +2DoS for 4DoS overall letting you get an Average result. This would, in a narrative sense, be you all pooling your money together.))

((Oh no, I'm good! Honestly, given my character's background and personality, I think she'd only really try if pushed. She's very much "out of her element" there and more or less trusts Balthazar as having more experience in such matters. This attitude may change in time and with some character growth, but for the time being I'd have her remain somewhat reluctant with such things. ))

9 hours ago, Lynata said:

((Oh no, I'm good! Honestly, given my character's background and personality, I think she'd only really try if pushed. She's very much "out of her element" there and more or less trusts Balthazar as having more experience in such matters. This attitude may change in time and with some character growth, but for the time being I'd have her remain somewhat reluctant with such things. ))

((Is that also "No thanks, I'm good" for offering a Fate Point to spend as well if Balthazar/Estelia feel like going that route as well?))

5 hours ago, ThenDoctor said:

((Is that also "No thanks, I'm good" for offering a Fate Point to spend as well if Balthazar/Estelia feel like going that route as well?))

((Oh, I actually misread that part! Feel free to add my FP -- the way you put it it would only make sense. Although personally I would have thought that to be better represented by using Assistance rules, even if it's not really RAW. Losing a Fate Point just to pay for transportation is pretty significant, yet I kinda feel forced to do so as there's no way my character would not offer this kind of help.))

49 minutes ago, Lynata said:

((Although personally I would have thought that to be better represented by using Assistance rules, even if it's not really RAW.))

((The issue is that it's not technically a Skill test, also the test has been rolled and results taken in to effect, but honestly I feel like requisitioning services is different enough from gear/reinforcements that it's alright. Since they're not permanent in nature. So, if Weasels, quoting for his sake, chooses to re-roll the test overall I think I would be all right with him making the test with Estellia and Dante assisting. I think from now on it's reasonable that you would all pool your efforts in to getting around honestly. Gear and Reinforcements being personal makes sense from a power perspective because you can also use your Inquisitor's influence if you're brave enough and feel like you can explain it away. But Services is such a low and passing (read you don't keep anything) that I think it'd be alright if you guys are alright with the modification.

Remember though that failure doesn't mean I don't have to give you the transport, just that there are consequences, seen or not.))

On 6/17/2018 at 10:13 PM, Covered in Weasels said:

On 6/17/2018 at 1:35 AM, Servant of Dante said:

((Quoting Dante for the sake of their opinion on the possible house rule as well.))

((I'll reroll the test with assistance. Rolled a 27 this time, which with a target number of 25 +30 difficulty ÷20 assistance = 75 means we have 6 DoS. Much better!))